[AT] Corn Picking and storage.

[Ernie]

How many people even know what you mean when you say shovel right or left
handed.  At 62 I can still out shovel a lot of 'kids' 1/2 my age just
because I can shovel both directions.

Ernie
  
'In God We Trust'
-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Paul Waugh
Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2010 11:19 AM
To: Tractor
Subject: [AT] Corn Picking and storage.

This topic is starting to stir some memories.  The snapping glove my father
used, I still have.  I have tried it a couple of times. The whole concept of
going down through rows and getting beat around by stalks and piling corn in
the snow because it snowed way too early, is a lot of work!!

My uncle was a hog farmer, raising 300-400 head a year. And doing it the
hard way. A lot of work and TLC, he loved his hogs.  To do this he needed
corn, so he built a crib around 1953. Big for our area. 60 ft x 60 ft x 20
ft high.  It was divided into 3 sections. a 40 ft center, with a 20 ft on
each side, and of course, 60 ft long.  Each section had a 'trough' in the
center of the floor. This was 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep. They were
exposed to the outside. There was a lip to hold 2 x 4's to cover the trough
before filling with corn. This gave ventilation and is were we would slide
the 'drags' for the corn sheller.  It was a pretty neat set up and 2 guys
could shell a heck of a lot of corn or a Saturday morning. The sheller was a
MM, I have no idea of model, it was a pull type and pto driven. He had 3
section of drags, each 8-10ft long, they could be hooked together to make
one one drag.  Just pull a couple of boards off the through and let the corn
fall into the drag.

In the falls of 1956 & 57 my uncle contracted to shell 'government' corn. I
have no idea what this was about, other than farmers stored the corn in
every available place he could find.  Some were nice and used cribs. We
would set up the drags along the outside and remove some bottom slats to get
the corn out .. very little shoveling.  Some was stored in bins in upper
part of barn, and was lot of shoveling.  The worse was hog brood houses.  A
couple of farmers just lifted the lid and filled hog houses.  Any idea how
hard it was to get that first corner open enough to stand on the floor so
you could shovel .... by then you were half done with that house, and the
next was waiting on you. We were at one place 4 days shoveling houses.

It was always interesting, bees, mice, rats, oh my the rats, birds nest,
just about anything.  It was always fun on a warm fall afternoon, when corn
fell down and a wasp nest came with it .... they were pisssed to say the
least. We did a round wire crib that had so many rats in it, we took turns
walking around and smacking them in the head as they tried to squirm out of
the crib and corn  ... must have killed 20-30 rats that day.

I will never feel 16 again, with the warm sun on my back, shoveling,
sweating in 40 degree like it was summer .... I was one of the lucky ones, I
can shovel right, or left handed.

Paul-46555
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